Bullying is one of the most despicable aspects of modern society, I\u2019m sure we can all agree.<\/p>\n
Prejudice against someone based on something as trivial as appearance is truly abhorrent behavior, but unfortunately social media has given people a platform to be nasty to one another while benefitting from relative anonymity.<\/p>\n
posterposter
\nMelissa Blake knows this only too well. A writer, she was told by online trolls that she was \u201ctoo ugly\u201d to post photos of herself.<\/p>\n
Needless to say, Melissa was hurt by the comments, which came after she wrote an article for CNN back in 2019.<\/p>\n
When the article went live, a YouTuber shared a photo of her, only for hundreds of people to then attack her appearance.<\/p>\n
Melissa, who has Freeman Sheldon syndrome \u2013 a disorder characterized by abnormalities of the head and face and defects of the hands and feet \u2013 was labelled a \u2018blob fish\u2019 and a \u2018whale\u2019, amongst other things.<\/p>\n
Rather than let the sick trolls bully her into depression, however, she decided to make a stand in a truly special way.<\/p>\n
Melissa took to Twitter with a post that read: \u201cDuring the last round of trollgate, people said that I should be banned from posting photos of myself because I\u2019m too ugly. So I\u2019d just like to commemorate the occasion with these 3 selfies \u2026\u201c<\/p>\n
That specific tweet gained plenty of traction online, with people flooding to Melissa\u2019s defense. Yet the writer wasn\u2019t finished there. No, after she was told she was so ugly she should be \u201cbanned\u201d for taking selfies, Melissa went on to post a selfie every day for a year.<\/p>\n
As a result, her following on Instagram has risen from 7,500 to 100,000. Alongside the images she posted each day, 39-year-old Melissa also addressed topics such as disabilities. As per Refinery29, she said:<\/p>\n
https:\/\/x.com\/melissablake\/status\/1170481393673166849\/photo\/1<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was one thing they all had in common: Each selfie truly reflected my personality and who I was. Each was a celebration, and each carried a message.\u201d<\/p>\n
She continued: \u201cIt\u2019s a way of taking back my power and painting a more accurate picture of disability. Because the one we have now? It\u2019s more 1950 than 2020 \u2014 full of misconceptions that often only show disabled people as drains on society. On the contrary, we lead full lives and I\u2019m so proud that I was able to show that for an entire year.\u201d<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know about you, but I\u2019m immensely proud of Melissa and the courage she\u2019s shown in rising above the revolting trolls who sought to put her down for a cheap laugh.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s more, her bravery was rewarded by thousands of comments online from strangers who wished to show their support for her plight!<\/p>\n
Melissa, I don\u2019t know if you\u2019ll ever read this, but if you do I want to say thank you. Thank you for inspiring others to ignore bullies with nothing better to do than put down others. Thank you for showing us that beauty really is only skin deep. Thank you for being you!<\/strong><\/p>\n Share this article if you\u2019re proud of Melissa, and if you\u2019re praying for a world where bullying no longer exists.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bullying is one of the most despicable aspects of modern society, I\u2019m sure we can all agree. Prejudice against someone based on something as trivial as appearance is truly abhorrent behavior, but unfortunately social media has given people a platform to be nasty to one another while benefitting from relative anonymity. posterposter Melissa Blake knows…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2409,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n